Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts Office of Children & Families in The Courts
Today’s Agenda: Brief Update – What’s completed… What’s Happening Now… What’s coming…
Completed
Judicial Analyst County Assignments
Children’s Roundtable Initiative Children’s Roundtable Initiative structure in place Eight Leadership Roundtables –Co-chairs Statewide Roundtable
Children’s Roundtable Initiative encourage a strong collaboration between the court and agency, includes all stakeholders free flow of ideas, problems and solutions All practices and initiatives taken on by the OCFC are vetted through the Pennsylvania Roundtable governance structure
Children’s Roundtable Structure
Guiding Principles Committee Chaired by The Honorable J. Brian Johnson, Lehigh County Mission Statement and Guiding Principles Pennsylvania Child Dependency System
Permanency Practice Initiative Permanency Practice Initiative Phase One Implemented Phase One Counties – Allegheny, Blair, Butler, Carbon, Dauphin, York, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Snyder, Venango, Washington, Jefferson, Chester, Northampton Phase 1 County Meeting
Expected Outcomes Increase in –Child, Family & Community participation –Community based services –Prevention services –Placement stability –Permanent, life-connections for older youth –Safe & timely permanency
PPI Practice Components Three (3) Month Court Review Family Group Decision Making Children’s Roundtable (leadership & oversight team) CPCMS Dependency Module Family Finding Family Development Credentialing Model
Three (3) Month Court Review More frequent review of cases provides for greater accountability: –families –providers –workers –court –agency All Phase 1 Counties have moved to 3 month reviews
Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) Voluntary decision making process Guided by values and beliefs Organizational Change/Practice Shift 2009 International FGDM Conference – Legal Track
CPCMS Dependency Module CPCMS live in 65 of 67 counties CPCMS Forms sub- committee of the Juvenile Court Rules Committee court case management reports and outcome data
Family Finding (FF) Finds Families (extended families) Combines: common sense, social work, detective work, and technology Search for families at intake and throughout the life of the case Connects to other family focused practices Real work begins once family members are found
Family Finding (FF) Completed: Training for county users –6 of 6 sessions –40 real cases –14 PPI Counties Accurint
Family Development Credentialing (FDC) Process to develop a network of strength- based community providers Advisory group (Local Roundtable) Includes: – Instructor Training (80hrs) & Portfolio Advisors (10hrs) –Course work & transfer of learning hours –Credentialed through Cornell University
Family Development Credentialing (FDC) Completed Family Development Credentialing –3 Instructors Institutes trained over 75 instructors in 15 counties –Portfolio Advisor Training underway
What’s Happening Now?
Permanency Practice Initiative - Phase 2 Adams Armstrong Bucks Cumberland Franklin Fulton Indiana Luzerne Montgomery Tioga
Permanency Practice Initiative - Phase 2 Phase 2 County site visits Same components as Phase 1 Supported by OCFC, OCYF, CWTP, SWAN, CAAP, Phase 1 Counties
Children’s Roundtable Summit September 24 – 26 Pittsburgh, PA Meeting of Children’s Roundtable Members
Benchbook Dependency Bench Book Committee – Chair, Honorable Chester Harhut, Lackawanna county Details Court Hearings’ Best Practices Science piece – trauma, attachment, grief/loss
3-5-7 Model Understanding of Grief, Loss & Attachment In Pennsylvania this Model is known as the Child Preparation Unit of Service Training for Phase 1 Counties
What’s Coming Training for Judges, Attorneys & Advocates Truancy Prevention Fostering Connections Grant –Kinship Navigator –Family Finding Concurrent Planning Data Exchange
Questions
Contacts Cathy Utz, DPW/OCYF (717) ; Angelo Santore (717) ext 3825;